Tuesday, October 2, 2018

I asked Aaron to write a little bit about his trip back to the Solomon Islands a few weeks ago. Here are his thoughts:

When
the Bible is translated into a language that has never had it before,
two extremes tend to guide our hopes or drive our fears. On one hand
the worst case scenario is that the Scriptures are produced, and
either they sit in a box in some closet never used, or they are
bought and treated as show pieces collecting dust on household
tables. One the other end of the spectrum is the great hope that the
word of God will be read, understood, and begin to transform the life
of the reader.

Praise
God, this latter case was story I found on my recent trip back to
Solomon Islands. After being away from the Russell Islands and
direct contact with the translation work in Lavukaleve for sixteen
months, I was not sure what I would find when I returned. I was not
surprised to learn that the translation committee had basically not
been functional the whole time I was away. I was more saddened to
hear that two of the translators had also slowly slipped away from the
translation desk.

In
contrast, what joy I felt when I heard that one of the translators,
Ezekiel, had remained faithful when all others seemed to fall away.
Not only this, but God was providing him encouragement and support
from a couple of school teachers in a nearby village. Together this
small band was meeting regularly, working through the text or the
gospel of Mark, questioning each other and learning from God’s word
and about their language. God provided for, and help together His
faithful remnant. What an awesome God we serve!

Late
in my visit, Ezekiel came by and we had an opportunity to catch up.
I asked if there was any report on the translations that exist for
Ruth and Jonah. Ezekiel told me of a man named Ambrose in his
village. Ambrose is a village elder. For a series of Sundays, Jonah
was part of the Bible readings in church. Ezekiel was a strong
encourager for the village readers to use the Lavukaleve translation
of Jonah when the time came.

After one of the readings, Ezekiel
asked Ambrose what it was like to hear the reading in Lavukaleve.
Ambrose indicated that hearing it in his language was much better.
He mentioned that he could understand the reading when it was done in
English or Pijin, but at those times, the words just hit his head.
When he heard it in Lavukaleve, it was as if the words went straight
to his heart.

Perhaps
a week later, Ambrose came excitedly to see Ezekiel again. This time
he told Ezekiel that he had heard Jonah. He proceeded to retell the
whole of chapter 3. At the end Ambrose looked at Ezekiel and
confessed that he was just like those people in Nineveh and that like
them he felt he too needed to repent!

When
I face difficult days, when we feel isolated and far from friends and
family and the familiar of the US, when we are not sure anything we
do ever makes a difference...this story about Ambrose is why we are
doing what we do. God’s word, offered in a way that the people can
understand best, transforming lives.